Survivor Series (2005)
Survivor Series (2005) was the 19th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on November 27, 2005 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan and featured wrestlers from the RAW and SmackDown! brands. Six professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The first of the main events was an interpromotional 5-on-5 Survivor Series match, a type of elimination match, between Team SmackDown! (Batista, Rey Mysterio, John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL), Bobby Lashley, and Randy Orton) and Team RAW (Shawn Michaels, Kane, The Big Show, Carlito, and Chris Masters); which Team SmackDown won after Orton last eliminated Michaels, and become the sole survivor in his Survivor Series match for the third straight year. The other main event was a standard wrestling match between wrestlers from the RAW brand, in which WWE Champion John Cena defeated Kurt Angle to retain his title. Another match was a Last Man Standing match—a match where the first person unable to respond to a ten count by the referee lost—between Triple H and Ric Flair. Triple H won the match after Flair failed to get to his feet before the referee counted to ten. Background Six professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card. Matches were planned with predetermined outcomes by WWE's creative staff and featured wrestlers playing characters for the entertainment of the audience. All wrestlers were from either RAW or SmackDown!—the two brand divisions to which WWE assigned its employees. The main leading rivalry scripted into the event was between the RAW and SmackDown! brands as a whole, rather than individual wrestlers. Eric Bischoff and Theodore Long, the authority figures of RAW and SmackDown! respectively, began an angle on the October 3 episode of RAW, a special episode billed as "WWE Homecoming." A special match featuring SmackDown! superstars was scheduled for the show; but as it began, Bischoff came out and ended the match by turning the lights off. Later in the show, Long came out and interrupted a Raw match in return, and as a result, the two brands started a brawl. The two brands interfered in the other's show before facing each other in a tag team match at Taboo Tuesday, a month earlier. The two teams consisted of Rey Mysterio and Matt Hardy (from SmackDown!) and Chris Masters and Snitsky. Team SmackDown won the match. After Taboo Tuesday, Bischoff and Long decided on a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match, a type of elimination match, and a singles match (also known as a standard wrestling match) between the two at Survivor Series. The teams feuded on both shows, and Batista (Dave Bautista), the captain of the SmackDown! team, suffered an injury after being attacked several times. Eddie Guerrero was originally scheduled to be on Team SmackDown!, but due to his heart surgery, he was replaced by Randy Orton. Another rivalry heading into the event was between John Cena and Kurt Angle, over the WWE Championship. Their feud began in August, when Bischoff chose Angle as the number one contender to the WWE Championship. Angle failed to win the title at Unforgiven, due to Cena disqualifying himself. At Taboo Tuesday, Shawn Michaels was chosen by the fans as the third participant in their Triple Threat match, a standard wrestling match involving three wrestlers, however, Cena retained the title. On the November 7 edition of RAW, Angle refused to compete due to the "you suck" chants from the audience. Angle finally agreed to compete when Bischoff censored the crowd and let him have a special guest referee, whom Angle chose to be Daivari. Daivari's officiating was unfair and biased towards Angle's opponents. Another staged rivalry was between Triple H and Ric Flair. It began at WWE Homecoming, when Triple H returned to WWE television after three months. The two had been aligned since 2002, as members of Evolution, and were partners in a tag team match on the show. After they won the match, Triple H turned on Flair, and attacked him with a sledgehammer. The week after, Triple H explained his actions, saying that he realized Flair was no longer the legend he was, and he needed to stop Flair. Flair and Triple H met in a steel cage match at Taboo Tuesday, a match where two wrestlers fight in a cage with four sheets of mesh metal which Flair won. A Last Man Standing match was made between the two for Survivor Series. Event with Daivari, his special guest referee]] Before the event began and aired live on pay-per-view, a dark match was contested between Juventud and Simon Dean, which Juventud won. After the dark match, the pay-per-view event began with Booker T (accompanied by Sharmell) facing off against Chris Benoit in the first match of their "Best of 7 series" for the vacant WWE United States Championship. The match started with Booker T exiting the ring when Benoit gained a slight advantage. The match went back and forth for the first half before Booker T took control. The match saw interference by Sharmell, as she distracted Benoit, who was on the top ropes. Booker T won the match with a pin and using the ropes for leverage, after Benoit missed a free fall headbutt. Booker T took a 1–0 lead in the series. The match that followed was between Trish Stratus (accompanied by Mickie James) and Melina (accompanied by Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro for the WWE Women's Championship. The match started with Stratus immediately taken control until Melina fought back. Nitro and Mercury interfered during the title match, but the referee ejected them from ringside. Melina kept control over Stratus until she fought back with forearm shots. Stratus, however, executed a diving bulldog and pinning Melina to win and retain the title. The third bout was a Last Man Standing match between Triple H and Ric Flair. Triple H attacked Flair on his way to the ring, and gained the early advantage. After attacking Flair's head with a screwdriver, Triple H continued using foreign objects throughout the match, including a folding chair, a sledgehammer, and the steel ring steps. The match saw back and forth action between Triple H and Flair. The match saw Triple H attempt to hit Flair with a Pedigree on the announce table, but Flair countered the Pedigree into a back body drop through another announce table. Triple H, however, performed the Pedigree three times on Flair, but Flair got up each time. Triple H then hit Flair in the back with a sledgehammer, and Flair did not get to his feet before the referee's ten count, and as a result, Triple H won the match. After the match, Edge and Lita came into the ring, and Edge announced that he would be hosting a new show on Raw entitled "The Cutting Edge". Edge noted that Dmitri Young was in the audience, and proceeded to criticize the sports teams of Detroit. Young replied by insulting Edge and his lack of a world championship. The fourth match saw John Cena defending the WWE Championship against Kurt Angle with Daivari as the special guest referee. Early in the match, Angle was able to apply the Ankle lock on Cena. Cena reached the ropes, but Daivari kicked his hand off. An angered Cena slapped Daivari, who tried to disqualify him as a result. Angle, however, stopped him, and both men were knocked out of the ring by Cena. As Daivari was knocked down outside, a Raw referee came out soon after to officiate. After Cena gained the advantage, Angle knocked down the referee, and executed an illegal low blow. Angle called for another referee, but failed to get the win after executing an Olympic Slam and a superplex. After Angle missed a moonsault attempt, Cena went for an FU; however, Angle countered by holding onto the referee, which led to Angle knocking down the referee. As the other referee was knocked out, a SmackDown! referee came out, Cena then hit a DDT on Daivari. Shortly after, Cena executed an FU on Angle, and pinned him to win the match and retain the title. The fifth match was between Raw authority figure Eric Bischoff and SmackDown! authority figure Theodore Long, who was accompanied by Palmer Cannon. A referee from both shows officiated the match. Long started the match by avoiding Bischoff's attacks. As Cannon climbed on the apron, and distracted the referees, Bischoff used his obi to choke Long. Bischoff continued to choke Long and applied the sleeper hold. Cannon distracted the referees again as Long hit Bischoff with his shoe. Bischoff then hit Long with a chop to the throat. The Boogeyman's music played with Bischoff sending the referees up the ramp to stop him. The Boogeyman was behind Bischoff, however, and he performed pumphandle slam on Bischoff. Long took advantage of that and pinned Bischoff to win the match. , who was Eddie Guerrero's replacement in the 5-on-5 Survivor Series match]] The final match was the Survivor Series match between Team SmackDown! (Batista, Rey Mysterio, John Bradshaw Layfield, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton) and Team Raw (Shawn Michaels, Kane, The Big Show, Carlito and Chris Masters). The match started with both teams taking control. The first elimination occurred when Kane performed a chokeslam on Lashley and Michaels pinning Lashley for the elimination. Kane was then eliminated by Batista after a 619 from Mysterio and a spinebuster from Batista. After that, Batista was eliminated after a double chokeslam by Big Show and Kane. Big Show was eliminated next after a Clothesline From Hell by JBL, a 619 from Mysterio, an RKO by Orton, another Clothesline by JBL and a seated senton by Mysterio. Mysterio then pinned him for the elimination. Carlito was then eliminated, after JBL performed a Clothesline From Hell. The next elimination was made by Mysterio, as he hit a Springboard Legdrop on Masters for the elimination. Michaels went onto eliminate both Mysterio and JBL, after he performed Sweet Chin Music. Orton and Michaels were the final two men left from their respective teams. JBL then distracted Michaels, which made Michaels superkick JBL. As Michaels turned around, Orton executed an RKO on Michaels and pinned Michaels to win the match for Team SmackDown!. Following the match, SmackDown! superstars came to the ring to celebrate with Orton. Druids then came out carrying a casket. The casket was erected and struck by lightning before The Undertaker emerged from the flaming casket. He entered the ring and attacked several of the superstars while Orton and his father "Cowboy" Bob Orton escaped from being the ring, in process preventing the Undertaker's attack. Aftermath After losing the 5-on-5-Survivor Series match to the SmackDown! brand, Eric Bischoff was fired by Vince McMahon on the December 5 episode of RAW. The rivalry between the brands ended, and McMahon took the spot as the temporary general manager of RAW. Before being fired by Vince McMahon, Bischoff proposed the idea for an Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution, and the participants feuded with each other in the weeks following. McMahon soon started to feud with Shawn Michaels when McMahon lauded Michaels for his part in the Montreal Screwjob, and Michaels told McMahon to move on. After Survivor Series, John Cena and Kurt Angle continued their feud. On the December 12 episode of RAW, Vince McMahon announced a series of five Elimination Chamber qualifying matches. The first qualifying match was won by Kurt Angle. The second qualifying match was won by Carlito, as he defeated Shelton Benjamin. Shawn Michaels, Chris Masters, and Kane also won their respective matches, and as a result, they were eligible to participate in the Elimination Chamber. After the qualifying matches, Cena was scheduled to face Angle's manager, Daivari in a "You Can't See Me" match, as it would see Cena blindfolded during the match. The match was won by Cena, as he made Daivari submit to the STFU, a move in which the wrestler wraps his arm around the neck of the opponent in a sleeper hold instead of pulling back on the head of the opponent. Randy Orton and The Undertaker continued their feud, and a Hell in a Cell match, a match that saw both men fight in a ring surrounded by a roofed steel cell, between them at Armageddon was made. Undertaker won the match, and their feud ended. Triple H moved on to feud with The Big Show, and Ric Flair feuded with Edge over the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Chris Benoit continued to feud with Booker T throughout the rest of the year and into 2006, in which their "Best of Seven series" concluded in January. Randy Orton, who was Booker's replacement due to a kayfabe injury, defeated Benoit in the seventh and final match. Booker won the WWE United States Championship as a result, but would lose it to Benoit the following month at No Way Out. Results * Eddie Guerrero was supposed to participate in this match, but his legitimate heart surgery forced Randy Orton to take his place. Category:2005 in wrestling Category:Pay-Per-View Events Category:Survivor Series Category:WWE for Extreme